Book review - The Darkest Shore by Karen Brooks

 Im a member of a book club in the next town over from me and its organised by the owner of the bookshop there - The Little Blue Bookshop in Kerang.  Great place to visit if you are in the area.

My friend and I joined and started in January, however I was intrigued about how the members talked about the December book and how it was quite divisive.  So I bought it!

Well......I cant say I enjoyed it as such, but Im glad I read it.  In fact the best way to describe it, is as the author does in the acknowledgements at the back of the book " This book has been one of the hardest and yet also, in a strange an inexplicable way, one of the most fulfilling I have yet written.  Being based on a true story, dealing with actual people and the shocking events that unfolded, the cruelty meted out and the impact this had on the lives of those in and around Pittenweem at the time became all-consuming - in a fraught but also good way.

The book is set in the early 1700s in Scotland and tells the story of several women and a man who are accused of witchcraft and what happens to them.  It tells of injustice and the power that one person can have over many and how very occasionally truth wins out and love wins.

Its a long book, a disturbing book but I would recommend reading it.